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The Lady of The Woods
The Lady of The Woods is an enigmatic demon who resides in an isolated cabin in the Western forest. Though her distaste of mortals is well recorded, she is generally harmless when interacted with... unless angered. After the Fall The Lady of The Woods was not originally created with that name, and in fact the “name” her spirit host gave her has long since been forgotten due to The Lady’s belief that names other people give you are a way for them to control you. Instead, her current title is one she chose to go by after hearing peasants speak about her as “the witch in the forest”. The Lady does not remember much about her creation and early Dormian life, as the separation of her spirit host left her with gaps in her memory. However, she does remember that she was created essentially as a tool for farming and alchemy by her spirit master. She would be responsible for growing a variety of crops for the Dormian population, and also brewed many exotic and complicated potions for Dormian nobility. The Lady’s spirit was part of a group of curse users known as the “Council of Renown”, and despite the severed connection to her spirit, the 'signum irae' tattoo on her ankle has allowed the Lady to continue use of this rare power. The Lady was lucky to survive the crisis of Dormia due to the farm being located outside the main city, near the location the village known as “Holland” now stands. With the connection to her host severed, The Lady was no longer merely an avatar for a more powerful force, and retained a degree of autonomy. She lived alone on the farm for quite a few years, continuing her occupation as a farmer due to a disconnection from reality; she was not sure what her place was in the world now that she had no direct purpose, and her isolation (added with the occasional raid from bandits) made her become cynical and unwelcoming. She would often turn away, or outright kill, strangers approaching the farm because of her distrust of other people. ' Finding Her Place... or Not ' As the humans started to gather together and form tribes and factions, The Lady’s position of safety became jeopardized as rumours spread of a “murderous demon-witch”. This, added to the fact that her farm was in a very strategically valuable location thanks to the nearby river, meant that raids on the farm became more and more common. Though at first she could defend against the invaders, she was one person against dozens and dozens of dangerous fighters, and eventually she was forced to retreat with a sparse amount of valuables into the woods. With the lack of a farm, The Lady resorted to using her powers to trap animals and reach fruit to feed from. This was enough to sustain her diet, though once again, humans became a threat to her as they expanded further into the forest to hunt for themselves. Though she did not particularly care about the wellbeing of animals, seeing the humans feed on things within what she perceived as “her” domain enraged her (likely due to the dislike of mortals she already harboured). Throughout the years, The Lady built her own cabin in the woods to live in, using the wood from the massive trees to carve out walls and furniture with her herbomancy. However, it was not long before scouts and hunters within the woods located her hideout, and informed their respective factions of where the “demon-witch” was residing. An attack was launched against her, though thanks to her stronger abilities compared to the last time she faced off against them, The Lady managed to defeat the invaders, leaving a few alive to run away in terror and inform their leaders. Apart from the occasional attempt from bandits and wannabe-heroes, The Lady was left relatively in peace in the years following this incident. The experience also led to a changed philosophy in The Lady; she realised that the animals she has been feeding on have never hurt her like the humans have tried to, and concluded that they were her friends rather than her enemies. She stopped feeding on animals except for when absolutely necessary, and instead changed her diet solely to vegetables, fruit… and mortal flesh. ' Pleasing Offerings' The Lady relished her new tranquil existence, and took the time to focus on studying her mancy and attempting to create new techniques, and even started a new farm around her cabin to grow vegetables. As decades passed, The Lady’s life took a new, unexpected turn when a feeble looking peasant turned up on her door. He was nervous and unthreatening, with nothing but a tiny dagger on his hilt. To The Lady’s surprise, the man begged her to aid their struggling farm in its growth. Apparently, rumours and tales had begun to spread about the immortal “witch in the woods”, whose incredible abilities allow her to bring a good harvest to any farm… as long as a sacrifice is made. Though amused at the wildly inaccurate story, The Lady took advantage of this tale and agreed to grant the farmer’s wish… and, partly in jest, asked in return a recently born child. The farmer returned with a young boy, no more than 2, and offered his life in exchange. The Lady was entertained by such a blind display of desperation, and told the peasant that he could keep the child and she would aid their harvest regardless. He thanked her for her mercy, and returned often afterwards to fulfil any tasks the Lady asked of him. Indeed, this happened many a time over the decades: peasants would come to her, asking for things varying from good harvests to fixing women’s fertility. Sometimes she would grant the wish without asking for anything in exchange, though the majority of the time she would ask for human flesh to consume, or rare ingredients for her potions which she cannot find or grow in her own forest. Of course, the Lady was no omnipotent witch, and many of the things asked of her were things she was unable to fix; though, this did not stop her from supplying placebos to please her visitors. ' Insectologist!' The Lady, having plenty of time to herself, studied insects and pheromones, believing that she may be able to find out a way to have a small control over them. Through alchemical experimentation, she managed to create some plant-based artificial pheromones which could attract certain insects such as bees, ants, wasps and termites. Due to its plant-based formula, the Lady could manipulate the pheromones to an extent and actually give basic orders to those insects such as swarming and attacking. As a readied defence utilising this around her home, she moved bee and wasp nests near the gates and attracted red ants to build mounds just outside her garden. ' The Golden Invaders' A new threat appeared to her, however, as the Western Kingdom made its rise. The forests were patrolled and logged far more often now than when the humans were not completely organised. The Lady became fiercely protective of the area around her home, and began brutally slaughtering Western patrols who strayed too close to her cabin. Realising that she’d be in even more danger if the West found out what she was doing to their men, The Lady had the cunning idea of approaching the lizardkin within the lake temple. She manipulated them into hating and fearing the West, and convinced them to help her fight off threatening patrols. As the gravity of the Western threat hit her, The Lady decided that she would have to work hard to defend herself and her beloved forest. She increased the intensity of her study and meditation, and even began asking her peasant followers to bring her offerings of ingredients for vitor enhancing potions to enable her to practice for longer. Eventually, she entered her second vitae - fully prepared for the trials required to pass it. The folk tales about her extraordinary abilities were no longer exaggerations, but rather the truth. Through her interactions with more peaceful humans, The Lady’s perception of mortals softened with age, and she is now found to be quite cordial to those who visit her and the forest with good intentions. However, the speculation about her motives and morality remains hotly debated throughout Trepheon; some, who have not interacted with her, believe her to be an ancient force of evil who kidnaps and devours children, whilst others know the truth about her nature.